As you probably already know by now, Labour has narrowly secured a majority on Bridgend County Borough Council in this week’s local elections.
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Labour has enough councillors to run the authority by themselves, but if they go down that route they’ll need to be ultra-disciplined as they only have a majority of 2. There’ll inevitably be by-elections and fallings out down the line.
Given the slim majority, it’s likely that the incoming Labour administration will still want to take – as Huw David has previously described it – a “one council approach” on big issues such as the budget, trying to involve the opposition as much as is deemed reasonable.
If they want to increase the number of votes at their disposal, Labour may consider an informal agreement with the likes of Plaid Cymru (replicated the Labour-Plaid deal in the Senedd) or one of the Independent groups. I doubt there’ll be any kind of formal coalition though.
As mentioned, life for Labour could be made awkward by the much stronger opposition they’ll now face from the Independents. Many of the council’s most vocal critics from the Independents (particularly the Bridgend County Independents group) have long been outside the council and, at best, town/community councillors that BCBC could ignore.
That’s no longer the case. They’re going to be in the (virtual and real) council chamber in far greater numbers. They’re going to have the kind of access to officers and information Labour may prefer they didn’t have.
There are a number of issues coming down the line – council tax/cost of living, home-school transport, the Logan Mwangi murder trial fallout for BCBC social services, future financial settlements from the Welsh and UK government – that could potentially lead to this being a rough five years for Labour.
